Recorder of Deeds - The Place to Go for Your Deed Record Searches
The Recorder of Deeds is basically the government office tasked to keep track of ownership for property, land and real estate under its jurisdiction. So if ever you are in need of a deed record, be sure to go to the right Record of Deeds office or use an online search service provider that has access to their databases.
Depending on where you live, the Recorder of Deeds office can also be called the Register of Deeds, Registrar of Titles Deeds Registry, Registrar of Deed, or simply the Deeds Office. These places are the ones you should get in touch with whenever you have a need to know past and current ownership of a piece of land. This is extremely handy to know if you are interested in investing in real estate as land or property ownership can be very complex.
For instance, if you do not do your homework and rush into buying, say, a piece of land, you might end up losing everything if you find out down the road that the person or entity you bought the land from actually has no right to sell it to you. If you have a deed record in your hands regarding the land you are interested in, you are assured that the person (or business) selling it is indeed the one who owns it. Apart from just 'current owners', deed records also often contain information regarding previous owners. This will help you understand the history of the land (who originally owned it, what it was used for, etc.), which is always good to know. Another important thing you can glean from deed records is if there are others who actually have a claim in the land you are interested in.
The Different Types of 'Estates in Land'
As mentioned, land ownership is not always straightforward. There are many ways by which one can have 'rights' to a piece of land. Following is a quick rundown of the four basic categories.Freehold. This means that somebody has a claim of ownership on the land. This can be life estate (ownership only until the person concerned is alive), conditional (voidable type of ownership), fee tail (ownership as a result of inheritance), and fee simple (absolute ownership).
Leasehold. This type of ownership only pertains to right of use and not ownership of the land itself. The most basic example is when you rent an abode. You have the right to use it but you do not own it. As 'simple' as this definition sounds, it can actually be complex due to the many ways by which a leasehold is granted. For instance, it can be a gross lease, wherein the tenant pays the monthly rent and the landlord takes care of all other fees associated with ownership, or a net lease, where the tenant pays rent PLUS associated ownership fees (e.g., insurance, real estate tax, etc.).
Statutory estate is ownership of land as result of governing law. A common example is community property, wherein a spouse automatically inherits ownership of land when his/her spouse dies (assuming no Will to the contrary has been left by the deceased).
Equitable estate pertains to somebody's right over the estate even if that person or entity does not own the land. A common example of this is when somebody owes debt to someone. If that person has land, he/she can't just sell it; the debtor has a 'claim' to the land because the person has not paid his debts to him. In short, the debtor has a lien on the land.
As you can see, a deed record is not just a piece of paper to file. It is an important document that needs to be carefully scrutinized if and when you want to invest or buy property.
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